Allison Stewart never liked physics much, but
watching her third-grade students create their
own spacecrafts gave her a new perspective.
Over the summer, the Frank Porter Graham
Bilingue School teacher developed an innovative
new space unit for the third graders. In January,
the school submitted the program to the Follett
Challenge, a national competition that rewards
innovative learning programs.
A North Carolina Science Festival internship
during summer 2014 taught Stewart about the
physics of flight. She decided to use what she
learned to revamp the third grade unit on space.
“I kind of took those pieces of the curriculum
in mind and pushed the envelope a little bit with
it because there’s no standard about space exploration,” Stewart said.
The nine-week unit started in October and
concluded in the first week of December with
a presentation to a panel that included North
Carolina State University engineering students
and Stewart’s mentors from the science festival.
After learning and researching the physics of
outer space, the 50 third-grade students broke into
groups to design land rovers and used 3-D printers
at Smith Middle School and Duke University to
generate small-scale models of their spacecrafts.
“Learning doesn’t happen on a flat surface,”
Assistant Principal Jose Nambo said. “Learning
doesn’t happen on paper or the screen — it’s live.”
The unit wasn’t just science — the students also
wrote five-paragraph essays to persuade companies to buy their craft. The school is bilingual, so
the students learned to advertise and market their
crafts during the Spanish half of the day.
A grand prize winner will be selected, and additional awards will be given to semifinalists in the
high school, middle school and elementary school
categories. Each winning school receives $30,000.
If Frank Porter Graham wins, the prize money
will buy more Spanish books for the school library.
“It would be an absolute dream to have our
school library 50 percent English, 50 percent
Spanish,” Stewart said. “Some of our projects feel
very limited because we have limited Spanish
resources at the school.”
Follett Challenge representative Amy Malpica
said the competition, which received 113 entries,
is a way to spread innovative ideas.
“A school in Washington could find out about a
program that’s going on in Florida,” Malpica said.
“A lot of times, there are great programs going on
that no one knows about.”
city@dailytarheel.com

DTH/CATHERINE HEMMER
N.C. State University hosted UNC’s Samaa and six other South Asian a cappella groups Saturday for an a cappella competition.

UNC is home to the state’s only South Asian a cappella group
By Christine Bang
Staff Writer

Samaa, North Carolina’s
only South Asian fusion a cappella group and a UNC student
organization, graced the stage
Saturday at N.C. State University
during Sangeet Saagar — the first
South Asian a cappella competition in the southeast.
Translating to “sea of music” in
Hindi, Sangeet Saagar featured
South Asian fusion a cappella
groups that sang mashups of
popular western and traditional
South Asian music from college
campuses across the nation.
Delta Sigma Iota Fraternity
Inc., a South Asian-oriented
organization, invited Samaa to
help screen the contestants. Both
N.C. State and UNC chapters
of the fraternity collaborated to
organize the event.
Because it gave its recommendations during the voting
process, Samaa did not compete
in Sangeet Saagar. Instead, the

group performed at the end as an
exhibition.
Of around 11 groups that submitted videos, six were selected to
compete: Massachusetts Institute
of Technology Ohms, Ohio State’s
Dhadkan, Rutgers University’s
RAAG, Case Western Reserve
University’s Dhamakapella,
Pennsylvania State’s Fanaa and
the University of Virgina’s Ektaal.
Samaa musical director Savita
Sivakumar, a senior economics and global studies double
major, is inspired by the emerging enthusiasm for South Asian
fusion a cappella.
“There’s a lot of South Asian
fusion a cappella groups slowly
growing, so it’s really nice seeing
a competition so close to home
— it makes it more worthwhile to
see lots of people doing the same
thing as you,” Sivakumar said.
Samaa executive director
Karina Javalkar, a senior health
policy and management and biology double major, was excited for
the chance to see other national

South Asian a cappella groups.
“It’s nice to know that there
are other groups,” Javalkar said.
“There’s not another one in
North Carolina, so we’ve never
met anyone else.”
Akshay Iyer, event leader and
previous president of the N.C.
State chapter of Delta Sigma Iota
Fraternity Inc., is a senior electrical engineering major.
“We felt that there was a great
market for this sort of event
because there are a lot of dance
competitions, and people tend
not to focus on vocal competitions
at the collegiate level,” Iyer said.
The proceeds from the event
will go toward Drive Education
and the Ekal Vidyalaya
Foundation. Both organizations
support children’s education in
both the U.S. and rural parts of
India.
“This is kind of really important to us — important to both
Beta and Gamma chapters —
because we’re just trying to not
only raise money for these great

DTH ONLINE: Head

to dailytarheel.com to see
video’s from the a cappella festival on Saturday.

nonprofit organizations but to
promote ourselves by saying
we’re an organization that really
cares about education,” said Tim
Thomas, service co-chairman of
UNC’s chapter of Delta Sigma
Iota Fraternity Inc.
The MIT Ohms won first
place at the competition, and
Case Western’s Dhamakapella
came in second.
Because Sangeet Saagar was
a success, both the Beta and
Gamma chapters of Delta Sigma
Iota Fraternity Inc. are trying to
make it a recurring event at alternating campuses.
“It’s also a great way for both
of our communities to come
together to show their support
for children’s education,” Thomas
said.
arts@dailytarheel.com

Q&A with new garden director Damon Waitt
The North Carolina Botanical Garden hired
a new director, Damon Waitt. Waitt is currently
the senior director and botanist at the Lady Bird
Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas.
Daily Tar Heel senior writer Colleen Moir
spoke with Waitt to discuss his excitement
about his new position, making the change from
Texas to North Carolina and his favorite plant.

THE DAILY TAR HEEL: Why did you choose to
apply for and accept the position at UNC?
DAMON WAITT: It was just such a clear

choice. There’s a saying in the botanic garden
world, “It’s a small green world,” and when it
comes to conservation-focused botanic gardens, it’s an even smaller green world.
So I’ve been familiar with the people and
the programs and the garden for years, and
I’ve always admired what they’ve been able to
accomplish. It was an easy choice for me to
make the transition from the Wildflower Center
to the N.C. Botanical Garden. I really like how
the N.C. Botanical Garden incorporates people
into its mission and doesn’t separate people

from nature.

DTH: What do you

hope to bring to the N.C.
Botanical Garden?

DW: I hope to bring my

53 years of experience and
love of the natural world and
botany and more specifically,
Damon Waitt is
my over a decade of experithe new director of
ence in managing almost
the N.C. Botanical
every aspect of the native
plant botanic garden. I think Gardens. He will
that my administrative and
start at the position
academic background will
on April 13.
all come together for the
benefit of the N.C. Botanical Garden.

DTH: How will you use your expertise in
native and invasive plants in your new position?
DW: Over the years I’ve been very active in
invasive species communities — I sit on the
National Invasive Species Council Advisory
Committee, I used to be the chair of the National

Association of Exotic Pest Plant Councils and I
founded TIPPC, the Texas Invasive Plant and
Pest Council. I know that the (N.C. Botanical)
Garden’s very involved with invasive species
management, both on its own properties but
also in North Carolina, so I’m looking forward to
working with those groups.

DTH: How will this new position be different

from your old one?

DW: The scale of (the UNC position) is
much larger. In my position here, (I am) basically managing all the different aspects of the
Wildflower Center ... The fact that the North
Carolina Botanical Garden has integrated the
botanical resources of the University, including
the herbarium and the Coker Arboretum, and
Battle Park management, and all these conservation lands, the scale is a little bit intimidating.
The park’s got a publicly visited botanic garden,
but I’m looking forward to that because I just
really appreciate the way that the University
thinks about those resources.
DTH: What are you most looking forward to

about being here?

DW: Oh, that’s easy. The botany, the basketball and the barbecue.
DTH: What do you think will challenge you
about the new position?
DW: Over the last 20 plus years, I’ve been
able to build a network of relationships in the
conservation community here in Texas, and
that includes nonprofit organizations, state
agencies, federal agencies. That’s taken time,
and so that’s going to be a challenge when I
first get there — to find out who those players
are, get to meet them, get to know them, see
where our needs are simpatico and to work in
that larger conservation community for the
benefit of North Carolina.
DTH: What is your favorite plant?
DW: I’ll tell you what Lady Bird Johnson

used to always say when she was asked that
question. It’s that they’re like my children, and
I can’t pick a favorite one. So, they’re all like
my children.

University Mall continues its rebranding e≠orts
The mall will be renamed
University Place and begin
using a new logo.
By Zhai Yun Tan
Staff Writer

The 41-year-old University Mall is
preparing to welcome a new cinema
and many new tenants as part of its
ongoing rebranding process — leaving
businesses in the shopping plaza optimistic about future opportunities.
Madison Marquette, the company
managing University Mall, launched
a rebranding campaign for the mall
in 2013 after the department store
chain Dillard’s left, according to a
press release.
The rebranding process will
include changing the name to
University Place and a new logo.
The process will focus on building a
regional mall that features distinctive local retailers.
The Dillard’s location will be taken
over by Silverspot Cinema, and a redcarpet opening will be held for the

luxury cinema this summer.
The 52,500-square-foot movie
complex will have 13 screens
and an upscale atmosphere that
includes a lounge area and full
restaurant. Tickets will be $16,
and the cinema will show foreign
movies, independent films, new
blockbusters and 3-D movies as
well as live broadcasts of cultural
performances.
A portion of the mall is under
construction as it readies for the
opening of Aveda Institute of Chapel
Hill, Planet Fitness and the luxury
movie theater Silverspot Cinema.
Several retailers from Franklin
Street’s University Square, which
closed in summer 2014, have also
moved into the mall — including
Fine Feathers and Peacock Alley.
“We’ve been welcomed by the
mall community, and we have settled
in very nicely,” said Pam Patterson,
sales manager of the boutique Fine
Feathers, which opened in April.
Compared to its past location in
downtown Franklin Street, where
traffic was heavy, Patterson said the
new location is more accessible to

customers.
“I would hope that some of the
people — where it may be inconvenient to fight traffic downtown
— will come here and give us a walkthrough,” she said.
The construction around Fine
Feathers hasn’t blocked the customer flow, Patterson said.
Alfredo Mendes, owner of Alfredo’s
Pizza Villa, has had his restaurant in
University Mall for 25 years and is
excited about the changes.
“From my space, it’s easy to see
people coming in and out, and we do
see a lot of new customers coming
in,” Mendes said.
“It’s been really good compared to
five years ago — everybody’s leaving,
now everybody’s coming.”
He said the rumors in the past
about the departure of many shops
may have triggered customers’ curiosities to check out the mall.
“People are very curious, and they
want to see how the mall has been
changing for the past few years,” he
said. “I see a lot of people I don’t
see for years coming in, telling me
‘Alfredo! You’re still here!’”

COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY MALL
University Mall is changing its name to University Place. The new name is part
of a rebranding of the entire mall, as well as the introduction of a new logo.

Amid the excitement for new
openings, the construction has also
negatively affected some tenants.
“Everything is still under construction,” said Josiah Nicholas, assistant
manager at Burlington Shoes.
He said he looks forward to the

opening of the gym and theater.
“Ever since Roses left, we’ve lost a
lot of business,” he said. “Hopefully
when those things open, it’ll be
worth the loss right now.”
city@dailytarheel.com